Bijan Robinson sends Georgia veteran to Super Bowl with USAA

It’s the second year in a row that the Falcons RB has sent a veteran to the Super Bowl.

Bijan Robinson is a fan favorite, and he should be — not just for the work he does on the field, but for the person he is off of it.

Robinson has family members who have served in the US military, and he’s teamed up with USAA, the official NFL Salute to Service Partner, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to award Staff Sgt. Jeff Carroll, US Air Force, and his wife, Lisa, the ultimate gift for any NFL fan: A trip to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, La.

Staff Sgt. Carroll is a die-hard Falcons fan who hails from Newnan, Ga. Mrs. Carroll is also a Falcons fan, and the two will spend time with Bijan before the big game, alongside other military families and NFL players who are a part of this league-wide effort from USAA.

Courtesy of Jeff Carroll and USAA

“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity with USAA and the VFW to give back to our military by sending a deserving veteran and fan of the red and black, like Staff Sgt. Jeff Carroll, to the Super Bowl,” said Robinson. “With family of my own who served, I know Jeff’s time in the Air Force required the full support of his family, and I look forward to meeting him and his wife Lisa in New Orleans to say thank you for all they’ve done for us.”

This is the second consecutive year that Bijan has worked with USAA to thank a veteran by sending them to the Super Bowl. I was able to catch up with him at the USAA Salute to Service Lounge last year in Las Vegas, and he said it’s been “the best partnership ever.”

“I surprised the guy (with) two Super Bowl tickets with his family and told him just how much I just love and respect him and what he’s done for our country and what he’s done for himself to even just be here to have this opportunity, Bijan said. “It’s been pretty amazing.”

At the time, Bijan told me that he does see a similarity between the NFL and the military.

“Obviously the military, it’s life or death, and your brotherhood is what you’ve got. But I think it’s the same thing in football — it’s not life or death, but you have a brotherhood, you play for one another,” the Falcons running back said. “They fight for one another. I think it’s just really important to give back in that area and to see the importance of what those guys have done and how they protected all of us from from any type of danger.”

Congratulations and best wishes to the Carrolls, and kudos to Bijan for giving back to veterans.

To read more about Jeff Carroll, see below.

Jeff Carroll Bio:

Jeffrey “Jeff” Carroll served in the U.S. Air Force for nearly a decade (1980-1989), achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Throughout his military career, Staff Sgt. Carroll supported software development and intel information systems both domestically and internationally, serving in the Air Force Data Systems Design Center at Maxwell-Gunter AFB in Alabama, the 6903rd Electronic Security Group at Osan Air Base in South Korea, and with the Air Force Management Engineering Agency at Randolph AFB in Texas.

Staff Sgt. Carroll software expertise started with writing the Computer Aided Load Manifesting (CALM) software on the Air Force’s first batch of microcomputers with two other team members. The software allowed loadmasters to build loads for a fleet of aircraft in approximately 6 seconds. While teaching themselves to program in The C Programming Language, the team developed the C-130, then C-141, and then C-5 software. The software was first used in Grenada and saved $2M in aircraft fuel alone.

Staff Sgt.’s military awards include three Air Force Commendation Medals, Korea Defense Service Medal, Air Force Overseas (Short Tour) Ribbon, and the Air Force NCO Leadership (John Levitow) Award, as well as receiving promotion to Senior Airman Below The Zone.

Jeff’s commitment to serve continued long after his military career, as he became a contractor for the U.S. Army Directorate of Public Works on Wheeler AAF in Hawaii. He later became a software developer and project lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and was a part of the team that installed the FAA’s first Wide Area Network to support its management of telecommunications. Staff Sgt. Carroll also developed the first edition of the Telecommunications Transition Planning software that laid the groundwork for the FAA to standardize upgrades and changes in their $1B+ telecommunications inventory.

Jeff is a die-hard Atlanta fan who lives in Newnan, GA, and currently works as the State Quartermaster (Chief Financial Officer) for the Georgia VFW. He will be bringing his wife, Lisa, who is also a Falcons fan, as his guest to New Orleans. They will both meet with Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson and other NFL legends at the USAA Salute to Service Lounge before attending the game.